Recap
Togawa returns the key at work and Nozue makes it awkward. Things get more awkward when Nozue’s boss invites Togawa to gokon. She thinks it’s a boss’s job to help their subordinates with their love life, which, hard disagree. Nozue gets worked up like he did with Togawa in the first ep, standing up and yelling, but Togawa just puts her off.

Later Togawa tells Nozue that he won’t go, but now Nozue says they’ll both go.

They keep their eyes on each other while chatting politely with the women. When one of the women gets Nozue’s number, Togawa starts guzzling beer.

Nozue ends up taking care of a drunk Togawa, which was Togawa’s plan to keep Nozue from going home with a woman. Togawa thinks Nozue would rather be with a woman and is sorry-not-sorry. Nozue credits Togawa’s anti-aging help for any attractiveness he has and says he likes being with Togawa. Togawa is ecstatic for a moment then goes to sleep.

He wakes up and sees Nozue in his place and assumes a respectful kneeling position, shirtless and apologizing profusely. He’s still preoccupied with Nozue wanting to go home with that woman, but Nozue talks conversationally about Togawa’s body and his workout regime.

This naturally leads to Togawa straddling a planking Nozue and groping him all over, until Nozue collapses and things get awkward again.

Togawa confesses his doing sports and working out are because of what Nozue said that day they met, encouraging him to have a life outside of work and love himself. He talks about how important Nozue is to him. Nozue admits he feels the same.

Togawa’s gokon date chooses that moment to call. A flustered Nozue rushes to leave, making excuses as Togawa tries to stop him. Then Togawa just grabs him and kisses him against the wall. 

Togawa’s kisses are passionate and Nozue returns them but then slides down to the ground, overwhelmed. Togawa lays himself bare, about how much he likes Nozue and has been trying to seduce him even though Nozue had no clue. He’s crying and apologizing and asking to be hit.

Nozue doesn’t know how to comfort him.

Thoughts
That kiss is one of my favorite drama kisses. For all the understated, unspoken nature of their closeness, this kiss is dramatic and intense and it’s easy to see how Nozue felt overwhelmed. 

This episode instead of focusing on Nozue’s growth via cigarettes or suit or phone, the guys are dealing with how to handle their relationship. Nozue’s anti-aging is no longer an excuse for them to be together, and Nozue feels grateful and guilty and confused. He’s pushing Togawa into blind dates and then complimenting his body. Togawa, meanwhile, is clearly getting desperate from Nozue’s confusing actions.

They’ve been flirting before, passing intimate comments off as friendly. Here, they push the boundaries, repeatedly talking about what they mean to each other and whether the other wants to be with a woman instead. Passive and oblivious as Nozue can be, it doesn’t feel like a game of cat and mouse. They’re both pushing and pulling at different times.

But it makes sense that Togawa, who has had feelings longer and is more obvious about them, is the one to break and lay it all out.